As is well known, it is typically necessary for relative heavy cargo, baggage, equipment and like material (hereinafter more simply referred to collectively as “cargo”) to be loaded and unloaded from the interior of an aircraft fuselage. In order to accomplish this task, there is sometimes provided ground-based cargo handling equipment, including hoists, which will assist an aircraft operator in the loading/unloading of cargo. However, there also exists a need for the aircraft to be provided with onboard cargo handling equipment in the event that ground-based equipment is unavailable (e.g., that may occur in remote airport facilities and/or landing sites).
Several onboard hoist systems are known in the art as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,587 to Warren, U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,855 to Dalbera, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,496,610 to Spitsbergen, the entire contents of each being expressly incorporated hereinto by reference. In this regard, the Warren '587 patent discloses a cargo handling system to place cargo load support elements in a fuselage of an aircraft and comprises a hoist mechanism supported by retractable support rails attached to the aircraft fuselage. The system according to Warren '587 is adapted to automatically place the load support elements within or remove the load support elements from the aircraft fuselage. The Warren '587 system is not portable and is relatively heavy and structurally complex.
The autonomous onboard loading system proposed by Dalbera '855 includes a hoisting means movable between the exterior and interior of the aircraft fuselage along carrier and guide means. The proposed guide means comprise transverse rails inside the fuselage at the level of the upper part of the lateral opening and two arms provided with rails movable between an extended position, wherein the arms extend outside the fuselage, and a retracted position, wherein the arms are withdrawn into the fuselage. Since the hoist system of Dalbera '855 is permanently fixed to the aircraft fuselage structure, it is not portable.
A portable hoist system is proposed by Spitsbergen '610 and comprises a hoist support assembly slidably mounted over a vertically oriented pintle fixed to the vehicle's structure. The hoist support assembly includes a substantially vertical tube which is connected at its top portion to a support arm, the latter being supported with respect to the former by means of an angled brace member. A lifting strap control assembly including a windlass and a guide bat are provided so as to lift loads. While the system proposed by Spitsbergen '610 is portable, the rather large pintle that is required for connected support with the vehicle is not entirely advantageous for use with an aircraft fuselage.
It would therefore be especially desirable to provide vehicular hoist systems especially adapted for use in the loading and unloading of cargo, baggage, equipment and like material into and out of a vehicle, especially an aircraft fuselage, which addresses the disadvantages noted above. It is towards fulfilling such needs that the present invention is directed.